Halo Weekly Update 11/22/13

Today is the beginning of the next generation of gaming for Xbox gamers worldwide, but with all this going on, there are still things going on in the world of Halo. Not so much has changed this week compared to last week, but still plenty to sink your teeth into!

This coming Monday, November 25th, the Grifball playlist will be receiving a large refresh. First and foremost, the “Grif” will now have their own shade of Orange! Not available as a personal customisation option, this armour colour will be exclusive to all modes in Grifball. Grifball will now occupy voting option #1, whereas Grifball Pro will be in option #2 and the “Grif” speed will be bumped up from 170% to 180% to counter the “Mobility” Tactical Package – which has been introduced in all modes to ensure you don’t run out of sprint when chasing the Grif. Shields have also been removed from base player traits.

Primordial, Termitarium, Hangar 101, and Thin Ice have all returned with updated aesthetics, and an all new Sarge’s Lab has been built to make it the standard size, in order to fix the lighting issues of the previous version. All courts will feature a “Ball Cage”, which keeps the ball locked in place for a more controlled “tip-off”.

Grifball Dash now appears in voting option #3, a returning game mode from Halo: Reach. All players are equipped with thruster packs to allow them to sweep in and grab the ball and rush the goal. This will be available on 3 new courts that are much larger than the others, to accommodate for the increased movement speed. These courts are Emerald Isle, Nakuru Field and Successor, inspired by Halo 3’s Grifball High. Additionally available as an alternative mode in option #3 is AGLA Grifball, which offers the map and gametype used by the competitive league at GrifballHub.

Dominion

Dominion will be returning on Monday as the featured playlist for this update, featuring Dominion, Lockdown and the winner of this week’s Community Choice poll, Legendary Dominion, as the 3 voting options.

For those who don’t know what Legendary Dominion is, here’s 343i’s description of the gametype, as written in the latest Bulletin:

“The game type uses Halo 4’s preset Legendary Loadouts (Battle Rifle, Assault Rifle and Frag Grenades) and features an enabled motion tracker. The game type puts all players on equal footing in terms of Loadouts, and gives players the option to use the Assault Rifle in close quarter battles, or roam from base to base while clearing out the battlefield with the Battle Rifle.”

Community Forge Ricochet

Additionally in Monday’s update, the winners of the Ricochet Forge contest will be added into the Ricochet playlist. The winning maps (Inheritor, Butter and Hekau) have received tweaks and improvements based on the feedback from the Community Forge Ricochet playlist. The updated versions will be available only when implemented into the Ricochet playlist.

Team Slayer Top 200

Monday’s matchmaking update will also update the Team Slayer playlist, officially starting the program “Team Slayer Top 200”.

Top 200 is a new system using CSR to rank the top 200 players in Team Slayer. It’s possible to rank CSR 50 players against each other, seeing as CSR is determined by who you win/lose against. The first Top 200 article will be published on December 2nd, and weekly from then on.

in order to implement this program, the following changes will occur during the update:

• Team Slayer’s CSR will be reset with Monday’s Matchmaking Update, and broken up by two month seasons moving forward
• Team Slayer will move to a team-based CSR
• Team Slayer’s Max Party Size will be adjusted from eight players to four to ensure that players do not boost against opponents
• Team Slayer’s Join-In-Progress parameters will be tightened

There is also a hint that there may be something special in Halo 4 matchmaking during Thanksgiving weekend, so keep an eye out for that!

That brings this week’s update to a close, if you’re picking up an Xbox One, enjoy yourself! If you’re not, be sure to try out the new changes on Monday, and let us know what you think of them!